This invention relates generally to an apparatus for cleaning the internal body of an engine, and more particularly to an apparatus and process for cleaning carbon and related residue and contaminants deposited within the internal body of a diesel engine and its component parts such as the injection pump, fuel injectors, fuel lines, etc., without the need to dismantle the engine and the associated parts thereof.
The industry is well aware of the various problems and difficulties encountered in providing suitable means for cleaning carbon deposits found on the surface areas within the combustion chamber of a diesel engine.
There are various methods that have been tried to solve this problem. One method employed is to provide chemical additives to dissolve soft carbon deposits on the combustion surfaces. These chemicals are applied in several ways, one being by simply adding selective chemicals to the fuel tank that supplies diesel fuel to the engine whereby the chemical is mixed and carried through the entire closed fuel system. Accordingly, in a closed fuel system of the type required in the operation of diesel engines, residue and other foreign material removed from the carbon-covered surfaces are not necessarily removed from the system. If not completely removed from the diesel-fuel system, such residual particles contaminate the system and eventually return to the fuel tank for deposit therein. Hence, these foreign particles are always present to clog and/or obstruct fuel flow at some later time.
A more positive but expensive means of removing carbon from a fuel diesel engine is to physically take the engine apart in order to clean the individual parts. This requires the costly and time-consuming dismantling of the engine, and often the fuel pump and injectors as well.
Therefore, there has been a search for a more complete and simple method or process for removing carbon build-up in the form of a simple, safe and less-costly cleaning operation which can be performed to provide for a total carbon-free diesel system while at the same time purging the complete system of all residual contaminants.